


right under my nose

by hi_raeth



Series: reblog (mini fics + prompt fills) [15]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M, Friends to Lovers, Mutual Pining, also they're both bi because this is a pride gift from me to me, they hook up with other people but they're emotionally monogamous
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-13
Updated: 2019-06-13
Packaged: 2020-05-07 07:47:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,853
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19205005
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hi_raeth/pseuds/hi_raeth
Summary: Prompt: "Rey and Ben are best friends and each other's wing-man/woman when they go out...until one of them catches feelings for the other and everything turns topsy turvy."It's hard enough setting your best friend up with the perfect one-night-stand.It's practically impossible once you throw feelings into the mix.





	right under my nose

Ben Solo has made quite a habit of announcing his arrival with a bang.

Literally.

Rey startles as the front door slams shut, and braces herself for a long night ahead as she gets up and pokes her head out the door. Her roommate remains frozen in the entryway, shoulders tense and brow furrowed as he kicks off his shoes and shrugs off his coat.

“I’ll go get dressed,” she announces with a sigh, softening when Ben looks up to offer her a sheepish, apologetic smile.

“That obvious, huh?”

After five years, it really is. They’ve got this down pat now, the both of them, always ready to get dressed and head out to the bar at a moment’s notice. The years have passed, the bar has changed, and their bad days are mainly work- rather than college-related these days, but the routine remains the same: sit back, relax, and watch their best friend work some wingman magic.

They arrive at _Finalizer_ twenty minutes later, greeted by the same neon sign advertising alcohol upstairs and live music downstairs as always. In all the years that they’ve been coming here (only about three, really), Rey has never been to the lounge downstairs. It’s a cozy, couple-y area, the kind Finn and Poe go to, and sometimes she and Ben will joke about finally finding someone to go with; sometimes they’ll even make an effort to do so. But one look at Ben, jaw still tense with the day’s stress, and she knows tonight is not one of those times.

Tonight they head for the bar instead, as they always do, and Phasma is quick to greet them with a commiserating smile. “So, who’s getting lucky tonight?” she asks as Rey and Ben settle into their usual seats at the corner of the bar, granting them the best vantage point in the house.

Rey leans into Ben, nudging his arm with her shoulder, and Phasma nods just once before she heads off to get their usual order started. There’s a grace period when they first get here, twenty minutes and a drink or two, the unspoken offer to talk about their shitty day if they feel like it, before the other gets to work. But that doesn’t mean she can’t look around a bit, scout out some possibilities while Ben pretends to be distracted by his phone while he organizes his thoughts.

There’s a single man on the opposite end of the bar, handsome even as his features seem to mirror Ben’s dark mood – but throwing two miserable people together almost never ends well, as Rey has come to learn over the past five years. A slightly too loud group of girls over in a corner booth, all of them pretty and bubbly and most likely legal, and those Rey files away as a back-up plan. But the woman in the booth next to them, joined by what appears to be a handful of colleagues for after-work drinks… that’s the one, Rey decides when she stands up and makes her way over to the bar. Tall and lithe, glossy brown hair and even prettier brown eyes, a confident walk and a smile just sharp enough to attract attention as she greets Phasma – Ben likes to say he doesn’t have a type, and she’s set him up with enough women over the years to know that he’s not _too_ picky, but this one definitely checks off all the boxes he pretends not to have.

Phasma seems to be on the same page, judging by the knowing look she flashes Rey when she comes by with their drinks a few minutes later. “Old man Snoke on your case again?”

“When is he not?” Ben grouses, adding in a mumbled _thanks_ before he takes a deep swig of his Corellian whiskey. Rey turns her back to him just the slightest bit as she accepts her margarita from Phasma, nodding at the woman who’s rejoined her group.

“Bazine,” Phasma whispers as she pulls out a rag and pretends to wipe the bar. “Here with her officemates, no one in the picture.”

Even with the occasional free drink, _this_ is still the best part about being one of Phasma’s regulars; she’d caught onto the routine within their first few visits, and has been happy to play along ever since. With her help, it’s just that much easier to nudge Ben’s attention towards the group of overdressed professionals in the back, that much simpler to have a drink delivered to Bazine after half an hour of them catching each other’s eye and trading smiles – hesitant, at first, but increasingly bold and secretive and knowing as the evening wears on.

Through it all Rey dutifully remains by Ben’s side and lets him talk her ear off about his godawful boss anyway, but as soon as Bazine gets up to thank Ben for the drink, she’s relieved of her duties for the night.

“Well, my work here is done,” Rey declares cheerfully – and loudly – as Bazine approaches. Best not to let Ben start off with the woman on the wrong foot, even though it’s probably crystal clear by now that Rey isn’t here with him in any… intimate capacity. “You know the drill: have fun, be safe, don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.”

Ben smirks as he leans over to pull her into a hug. “As if that’s hard,” he scoffs, holding her close for a moment before he pulls back and presses a kiss to her temple. “Text me when you get home, okay?”

Rey nods and collects her things, waves a quick goodbye to Phasma. “Will do,” she assures Ben, and makes her exit just in time for Bazine to slide into her vacated seat and introduce herself in a low purr. She allows herself one last look at the door, and sighs when she finds Ben completely turned towards the brunette in interest, a smirk playing on his lips as she rests a hand on his thigh.

“Job well done, Niima,” she congratulates herself quietly, and calls it a night. 

 

* * *

 

A month later, she finds herself back at _Finalizer_ when Ben decides she’s in need of cheering up.

She’s not, really, it’s just a little disappointing that Finn’s had to delay his visit yet again but Rey’s a big girl, she can handle waiting another two weeks to see her brother, and really this is all so unnecessary–

“Twelve o’clock, Latino guy sitting near the TV,” Ben whispers as he leans over her to reach for a coaster, and well, they’re already out anyway. “He’s been staring at you since we walked in.”

Rey’s discreet about it, waits for some time to pass before she pretends to look at the door and just so happens to drag her eyes past mystery man while she’s at it.

He _is_ staring, and even holds eye contact for a few seconds before he turns his attention to his phone. That brief glimpse is enough for Rey to decide that she wouldn’t exactly _mind_ , and she tells Ben as much a few seconds later.

It’s a subtler game when the tables are turned, more distance between the two of them to hint at Rey’s availability but just enough camaraderie to scare off anyone who _should_ be scared. That had been the whole point of the arrangement back in the day, after all: showing up together buys them enough time to get settled in without being swarmed _and_ makes for an easy way to avoid the kind of people they’d rather not waste time on; the added wingman service is really just a bonus.

The third time Rey looks over, the man greets her with a blinding smile. It doesn’t take long for Ben to launch into a well-rehearsed pep talk after that, and five minutes later Rey’s strolling over with two drinks in hand and a confident smile.

“Hi.”

“Hey!” the man greets her warmly and enthusiastically – a little _too_ enthusiastically, actually. “Rey, right?”

Warning bells go off in her head; the man isn’t familiar in the slightest, and Rey’s pretty sure she would have remembered him if they’d ever met. It’s times like these that she’s glad to have Ben carefully watching, to have Ben within walking distance just in case this seemingly harmless man turns out to be a stalker and she his oblivious target–

“I thought it was you, but Finn’s only shown me a few pictures and, I mean, no offense, but I wasn’t really paying attention to anyone other than him, you know? Especially the ones from your trip to Hawaii–”

And that’s when it clicks.

“Poe!” Rey blurts out a little too loudly as she finally catches on. “Sorry, I recognized you–” a blatant lie, because he’s not a social media person and Finn had insisted that it would be too weird and stalker-y to secretly snap a photo of his longtime crush, “– but it took me a minute to remember your name.”

“No worries,” Poe assures her with a casual wave before he gestures for her to join him. “It’s so nice to finally meet you. And funny, too, because Finn and I were originally planning to meet at this exact bar tonight, and he told me you’d probably come along, but then, you know…” His smile dims for the first time since Rey walked over, and some part of her relaxes at the confirmation that this man is just as gone for her brother as Finn is for him. Which is great, given that Poe _finally_ asked him out the day Finn informed him he’d be coming to visit, and after all these months of watching and listening to her brother pine after his former supervisor, Rey really, really hopes this relationship works out.

“Yeah, that was disappointing for all of us,” she sighs, pushing Poe’s beer towards him before she takes a sip of her wine. “But I have it on good authority that there’ll be no more delays, so at least there’s that to look forward to?”

Poe nods and tips his drink at her before taking a swig. “Definitely. So, who’s your friend at the bar? Might want to let him know that I play for the other team before he comes over to rip me apart.”

Rey nearly chokes on her drink. “Who, Ben? No, no, that’s not–” But then she looks over just in time to catch Ben hurriedly turn away, and they’ve known each other for long enough by now that she can detect just the slightest hint of guilt in his profile.

Probably just him being his usual overprotective self. “He’s just had a long day,” she tells Poe, figuring that that’s the easiest explanation. “Actually I should probably go, we’ve both got work first thing in the morning so we should really be getting home–”

“Right, of course,” Poe agrees easily, mirroring Rey as she stands up and enveloping her in a surprise hug. “It really was nice meeting you, Rey. Hopefully we’ll be seeing each other around.”

 _Hopefully I’ll be seeing your brother enough to see you around_ , Rey hears, and allows herself a secret smile. Oh, she is _definitely_ sharing this with Finn; after all that pining, he deserves a little relief and reassurance. “I’m sure we will,” she says as she steps away from the embrace, and offers him a smile. “Good night, Poe.”

Ben isn’t looking when she walks back, and the confusion on his face is almost _adorable_ when he blinks first at her, then Poe, then back at her again. “What–”

“He was staring because he recognizes me,” Rey explains before she drains the last of her wine and sets the glass down on the bar, “from Finn’s photos. The shirtless vacation ones he showed _his crush_ in a last-ditch attempt to get noticed.”

It takes him a second, but when Ben _does_ get it he promptly bursts into laughter. “Oh. _Oh._ Shit, Rey, that’s– I’m sorry, I know I shouldn’t be–”

Rey rolls her eyes and slumps back into her seat with a huff, lets Ben have his fun while she finishes his whiskey; she figures he owes her, after all.

“I’m sorry, let’s try again–” Ben offers when he’s finally gotten over it, but the idea’s lost what little appeal it held to her in the first place. They _do_ have work first thing in the morning, but it’s barely even ten; spending the rest of the evening curled up on the couch sounds way better than letting Ben try to find another target for her.

“Can we just go home and watch a movie or something?”

Ben’s already scanning the bar, but he immediately turns back to her with a soft smile. “Sure, sweetheart,” he agrees easily, brushing a lock of hair out of her face before he reaches for his wallet and tucks a few bills under Rey’s glass, catches Phasma’s eye with a wave and points at the money.

“’Night, Phas!” Rey calls out as Ben reaches for her hand and helps her down from the stool, and ignores the little smirk the other woman gives her when she realizes the both of them are heading home together. Against all expectations, she’s discovered over the years that Phasma is a bit of a closet romantic, one who happens to think Rey and Ben have already found the perfect partner to go check out the downstairs lounge with.

But Rey, Rey’s no romantic. She’s a practical person, with a best friend she’d rather keep for life than drive away, thank you very much, and Netflix with her best friend sounds way better than live music with some random person, anyway.

“Are you going to make me watch a Disney movie for tonight’s epic fail?” Ben asks as they leave the bar hand-in-hand.

“I’d say we’re about due for a _Moana_ rewatch, don’t you think?”

Ben bends down to muffle a groan against her shoulder, and Rey keeps on walking with a smile on her face.

 

* * *

 

It’s almost Christmas the next time they find themselves at the bar, and the pickings are predictably slim. In fact, Rey’s pretty sure this is going to turn into one of those rare nights when they just end up staying until last call to keep a bored Phasma company.

There’s a table of three older gentlemen, drawn in by the fact that there’s a game on the TV and Phas actually has the volume on tonight for background noise. A young couple is hidden from sight in one of the booths, probably enjoying a quiet date night now that winter break has started. And then, of course, there’s the redhead.

Or _the creepy ginger,_ as Ben has taken to calling him in the last half hour. He’d seemed normal enough at the start of the evening, even a possible candidate at first, but he just keeps _staring_. It’s unnerving, but not so much that they haven’t been able to make a game out of it, the two of them trying to spook the other into thinking they’re the one Creepy Ginger has his eye on. Ben takes it further by inventing odd mannerisms to go with the odd staring and suggesting possible bad lines he might use on Rey, and by the time the stranger makes his move she’s too busy laughing to even notice it.

A second round for _both_ of them slides into view, and they look up at Phasma to find her head tilted in Creepy Ginger’s direction. “Courtesy of a Mister Armitage Hux, who thinks three’s not a crowd at all.”

This is _so_ much worse than anything even Ben could’ve come up with, and Phas seems to be thoroughly enjoying herself judging by the twinkle in her eye as Ben shudders and Rey instinctively burrows into his chest for protection. She keeps her face hidden even as Ben swivels towards their… benefactor and calls out, “Thanks, man, but we’re good with just us.”

When she finally lifts her head, it’s to find Ben’s arm securely wrapped around her waist. “Creepy Ginger doesn’t seem that happy, so I think we’d better keep up the act. Just to be safe, you know?”

“Just to be safe,” Rey agrees, and rests her head on his shoulder. It’s not like they have to worry about scaring off any potential matches tonight, anyway, and she’d happily take all the fake cuddling in the world in exchange for avoiding further interaction with Armitage Hux, who’s _still_ staring when Rey chances a look ten minutes later.

“Ugh, he’s still looking,” she whispers to Ben, pressing her lips to the skin below his ear in a show of intimacy.

He holds her closer, turns to her with a smile even as he speaks through gritted teeth. “Shh, I think he’s getting up to go to the bathroom and he’s gonna pass by us.”

Rey panics and goes with her first instinct, which is to hide her face in Ben’s shirt yet again. He clears his throat and runs his fingers through her hair, and she can feel laughter rumbling through his chest against her cheek. She resists the urge to take a peek and keeps her eyes squeezed shut, and what feels like an eternity later Ben’s lips brush against her ear as he whispers, “The coast is clear.”

“Let’s go while he’s still in there,” Rey suggests, rummaging through her pockets for the handful of bills she’d tucked into them earlier in the evening. “I feel like he’ll just follow us home otherwise.”

Ben nods and gets to his feet before helping her up as well. “Good call. Phas!” he hisses a little too sharply, and all three of them turn to the direction Hux had disappeared in with bated breath.

“We’re gonna go now,” Rey whispers after a blissfully uneventful beat. “Merry Christmas!”

Phasma comes closer and puts their glasses away, tucks Rey’s crumpled-up bills into her apron. “I’ll keep him distracted to give you a head-start. Think of it as a Christmas gift.”

They shower profuse, hushed thanks upon her for all of five seconds before Rey drags Ben away, and the first half of their walk is utterly silent as they hurry down the street and out of sight. Eventually they come upon _Maz’s All-Nite Diner,_ the halfway point of their walk, and under the eerie glow of that giant, blinding neon sign the both of them collapse into fits of laughter that leave them breathless and wheezing, clutching their stomachs as tears leak out the corner of their eyes.

“Oh my god, the way he–” Rey croaks, still doubled over in laughter.

“And that _line,_ Jesus Christ–” Ben concurs, holding onto her shoulder for support.

Eventually they brush their tears away and regain their composure, and neither of them realize that Ben’s arm remains wrapped around Rey’s waist for the rest of the walk home.

 

* * *

 

The plan is for Ben to quit his job after the holidays.

It’s a good plan, one that’s been in the works for a while now and has Rey’s full support, and in the days leading up to Ben’s return to work, both of them are visibly wired up and so, so _ready_ for this chapter of Ben’s life – their lives – to finally be over with.

And then Snoke blindsides them with the fine print: sure, Ben can leave – after he puts in his _one-month_ notice, unless he’d like to breach his contract and pay the corresponding penalty of three months’ salary.

In the grand scheme of things, one month isn’t really that bad. But the ‘grand scheme of things’ is also the _three years_ of his life that Ben’s already wasted there (excluding summer internships), and adding one whole extra month to that just fucking sucks.

So Ben comes home, slams the door and throws his messenger bag clear across the apartment, and twenty minutes later Rey forces herself into a bra and jeans and shoes and off they go.

At _Finalizer,_ Ben rants for twenty minutes, and then another twenty, and then _another_ twenty. They’ve gone through three rounds by the time he finally stops for breath, and Rey is just about to point out the cute brunette who’s been sneaking glances at him all evening when she gets up and begins to make her way over to them.

“Incoming, six o’clock,” she murmurs into her drink, and watches Ben nearly choke on his whiskey when he catches a glimpse of the woman from the corner of his eye. Rey… isn’t faring much better, honestly; up close, the cute brunette is actually a stunning supermodel with sable hair spilling over her shoulders, and her smile is deadly, wide and sincere but devastatingly attractive all the same.

“Hi,” she says before either of them can react, and Rey’s plans of making herself scarce go up in flames when the woman turns to _her_ instead of Ben. “I’m Paige, Paige Tico.”

Rey stares dumbly at her proffered hand before her eyes snap up to meet Paige’s.

“Oh my god, you’re Rose’s sister!” Through all four years of college, she’d somehow never actually met her roommate’s older sister, the one Rose would never stop gushing about, the one she meant to set Rey up with time after time–

“That’s me. And you’re Rey Niima, right?”

There’d been pictures, lots of them, but Paige was still in the Air Force then, still wore her face bare of any makeup and kept her hair cropped right above her shoulders and in its natural waves. She’d been beautiful then and remains beautiful now, and Rey only realizes she’s staring when Ben gives her a subtle little kick under the bar.

“Yup! Yup, I’m Rey,” she confirms, finally reaching to take Paige’s hand in her own. “And this is my best friend, Ben.”

Paige gives her hand a squeeze before she turns to offer Ben a handshake as well. “Nice to meet you, Ben. Were you friends with Rose too?”

“Through Rey, mostly,” he shrugs, and gestures at the empty chairs next to him and Rey. “Would you like to join us?”

She’s amazed Ben is playing it so cool, but maybe all thoughts of hooking up left him the minute he realized Paige is the older sister of Rey’s other best friend; he’s considerate like that, sometimes.

It’s probably for the best, given that Paige chooses to sit next to Rey. “Sure, thanks,” she tells Ben before turning back to Rey. “Actually… I was wondering if I could buy you a drink?”

Oh.

_Oh._

For some _stupid_ reason, Rey turns to Ben with a deer-in-the-headlights look instead of saying _yes please._ And for some inexplicable reason, she thinks she catches _something_ in his eyes before he shakes it off and gives her an encouraging smile.

“You ladies go ahead with that,” Ben suggests as he gets up. “I think I’m gonna call it a night–”

“Ben, wait–”

“Oh, I didn’t mean–” Paige says apologetically, resting one hand on Rey’s arm as she leans back to look at Ben. “Please don’t feel like you have to leave, I’d hate to intrude on your evening–”

“No, not at all,” Ben assures her. “It’s just been a long day for me. Rey, I’ll see you at home?”

She doesn’t want him to leave. And Ben… Ben almost sounds as if he doesn’t want to leave either. But Rey’s spent a long time training herself not to see things that aren’t there, and she’s not about to start now.

“See you at home,” she concedes, and watches Ben’s retreating back until he disappears out the door.

And then she turns back to a smiling Paige, and hopes that this time she won’t say the wrong name.

 

* * *

 

Ben is… off the morning she comes back from Paige’s hotel – or maybe she’s off, or maybe they’re _both_ off. Whether it’s because Rey has to grapple with the knowledge that she’d pictured him in the dark the entire time, or because his ego’s hurt that Paige had picked her instead of him at one of his lowest points, she has no idea. But whatever it is, something’s different between them now.

“I’m sorry about last night,” she finally says after ten painfully long and silent minutes of breakfast, and the surprised look on Ben’s face quickly gives way to something soft, something forgiving–

“It was supposed to be about you, but instead I went off and left you alone and– God, I’m just sorry, Ben. Let me make it up to you tonight?”

That look fades, and in its place Rey finds a mask of perfect neutrality as Ben scoops up the last of his soggy cereal. He finishes his breakfast, pushes away from the table with a too loud screech of his chair, and finally shrugs when he picks up his bowl.

“Sure,” Ben says, and that’s the last she sees of him until later that night, when he knocks on her bedroom door in a tight black tee shirt and equally dark and fitted jeans. She thinks of last night, thinks of the things her brain had pictured in the dark, and–

And buries it all deep, deep down inside as she ushers Ben out of the apartment and over to the bar. It’ll do her some good, getting him out of the apartment for the night while she thinks things through and tries to get her shit together. This is _Ben_ , Ben the guy who’s been helping her get laid for five years, Ben the guy _she’s_ been setting up with other people for the past five years. Whatever this is, it’s either all in her head or completely one-sided; probably both, really. So she’s going to pretend everything is normal, and she’s going to watch him leave for the night with another person, and she’s going to keep her head held high as she walks back to their lonely apartment and tries not to dream of him in her lonely bed.

In _that_ outfit, it doesn’t take long for Ben to attract attention. He does well enough in his usual work clothes, sleeves rolled up to expose his muscular forearms and slacks showcasing his endless legs, but Rey can see why the too-tight shirt and sculpted-for-his-ass jeans combo has nearly everyone’s eyes on him tonight.

That just makes it easier for her to find a target, and harder for her to _not_ do something about it. With all the looks he’s getting, it’s far too obvious that she’s stalling when she orders a second drink after their first twenty minutes instead of getting to work. “So,” Rey forces herself to say after a swig of whiskey, joining him in his choice of hard liquor just this once. “I’m thinking the blonde girl in the white dress?” She tips her head in the girl’s direction, and waits for Ben to call her out on her unusual choice, waits for him to say no and suggest someone else instead–

“Yeah, sure,” he shrugs, and goes back to his phone.

It’s her move, then, and Rey can only stall for so long. Tonight she thinks she’d rather not be there to listen to Ben lower his voice into a bedroom growl, to watch the girl smile and swoon over him, and so she approaches the blonde with every intention of sending her Ben’s way and then going straight home.

The woman is here with two other friends, but they left for the bathroom a while ago and will probably be in line for a while yet. It’s easy to slide up to her, especially with the warm smile she flashes Rey.

“Caught me staring, did you?” she asks, beating Rey to it.

Rey shrugs. “Can’t blame you. I’m Rey, and that’s my friend Ben over there.”

“Kaydel, and I know.” She laughs at the shocked look on Rey’s face and gestures for her to sit down before adding, “I work with Senator Organa. She keeps a photo of you two with her and her husband on her desk.”

“Oh,” Rey replies dumbly, still stunned by this turn of events. As much as she loves Phas and _Finalizer,_ it might be time for them to find a new spot; they can’t go on like this, working their way through friends’ siblings and parents’ colleagues. But just for tonight… “I don’t know what Leia’s told you, but he’s single, for the record. Single and looking to mingle, you know?” she adds weakly, internally wincing at how stupid she sounds, how stupid she’s _being_.

“I see,” Kaydel says, and there’s an odd moment when she looks at Rey a little too long, a little too closely, before she turns to Ben with a contemplative look. “I think I’ll go have a chat with him.”

 _This is exactly what you wanted,_ Rey has to remind herself as both she and Kaydel get up. “Right, great idea. Go ahead. Nice meeting you, Kaydel.”

She doesn’t – can’t – stay to watch Kaydel walk up to Ben, to see them laugh over this coincidence and bond over his mom and her boss. Instead, Rey sticks with the plan and goes straight home, trades in her heels and dress for warm socks and a shirt she stole from Ben ages ago, and curls up on the couch.

This is where she and Ben spend most of their time together, when they’re at home. This is the closest she ever gets to her best friend, and that’s exactly how things should be, how things should stay. Sure, she’d been attracted to Ben since the day they met, but she’d gotten over that fairly quickly to be his friend instead. And sure, she’s found herself falling for him little by little ever since they moved in together and he proved himself to be the best friend a girl could ask for, but that’s exactly why this could never work. She’s seen Ben around other people, around past partners, and he never treats them half as well as he treats her, as he treats his _best friend_ – which is why that’s all they can ever be, no matter what her stupid heart feels whenever she thinks about him with someone else, no matter what her deluded brain pictures whenever she thinks of finally having someone to go to the lounge with.

People who get too close tend to disappear eventually, driven away by one thing or another, and Rey’s survived enough of that to know she would _not_ survive the same with Ben. She can’t lose him, and if that means playing it safe and staying friends forever–

 _Then so be it,_ Rey decides just as the front door opens and sends a beam of light spilling into the darkened apartment. Ben turns on the light, and her eyes are forced to adjust as he hangs up his jacket and tosses his keys into the bowl near the door before turning to her.

“You’re still awake,” Ben notices.

“Couldn’t sleep,” Rey tells him, a half-lie at most. “You’re home early,” she points out in return. “Didn’t feel like spending the night?”

He ignores her for a minute, heads to the kitchen and comes back with two glasses of water before he settles in on the other end of the couch and steals some of her blanket to cover his lap.

“I, ah… it wasn’t like that. I mean, she’s nice and all but… I just wasn’t feeling it, you know?”

 _Then so be it,_ Rey reminds herself, and wills the relief in her soul to disappear. Relief, jealousy, possessiveness – none of it is hers to feel, none of it is within the safe zone. “Oh. But it’s… it’s so late?”

Ben tugs more of the blanket towards him, pulling it away to reveal his baggy sweatshirt falling off her left shoulder. He blinks at her, takes a moment to clear his throat before he speaks. “Yeah, we started talking about my mom and lost track of time.”

Leia – Leia is safe. “How is she? I still feel bad about skipping Christmas last month.”

“And she’s still pissed at me for not wanting to go, but I’m glad I didn’t,” Ben shrugs, completely unperturbed. “She, uh, she’s good. Still thinks I’m an idiot, apparently – Kaydel says she rants about how blind I am on a daily basis – but good.”

Rey desperately wants to ask what he means by that, what Leia means by that, but… a part of her knows, a part of her remembers half-heartedly telling Leia _we’re not like that, he doesn’t… it’s just not like that, for us._

So instead she gets up and tugs her borrowed shirt down past her bum. “That’s good to hear. I should probably call her sometime.” And then, bending down for the briefest of hugs, she wishes Ben a good night and disappears into her room.

 

* * *

 

They don’t go to the bar for the next month. Rey doesn’t ask on her bad days, and doesn’t offer on Ben’s; he’s a grown man, she’s sure he can handle his own hook-ups if he really needs to. But then comes the day Ben is finally, _finally_ freed from his awful job, and best friends can go out to celebrate, right?

Everything goes well until halfway through their second round, when Ben decides to start the game. He leans in while Rey’s still laughing over his description of Snoke’s face when he walked out earlier today, and she can’t help the shiver that runs down her spine when his warm breath hits her skin and his lips brush her ear.

“There’s a guy who looks completely head over heels for you.”

Rey closes her eyes, takes a deep breath, and forces herself to play along. She fakes a laugh and swats his arm, puts some distance between them under the guise of scanning her surroundings. “For my arse, more like. Who is it?”

There are a few who meet her eye as she sweeps past them, but none that Ben would pick out for her. In fact, none that look actively interested–

A warm hand cradles her cheek and gently guides her back to Ben, who’s smiling at her like there’s not a single thing wrong in the whole wide world.

“Me.”

It’s so simple, so perfect, that for a moment Rey thinks she must be hallucinating, dreaming, in a coma on her deathbed coming up with impossible scenarios to distract herself from her impending death–

But Ben’s fingers curl around her jaw, and his forehead rests against hers, and she can feel his breath against her lips–

Rey closes her eyes, lets herself fall knowing now that everything will be okay, that Ben will catch her.

“Would you–” She takes a shaky breath, blindly reaches for the hand in his lap and laces their fingers together. “Would you like to go downstairs with me?”

Ben closes the distance between them, and she can _feel_ his smile against her own as he sighs into their first kiss. “Sweetheart, I thought you’d never ask.”

**Author's Note:**

> I received this prompt nearly _five_ months ago, immediately fell in love with it, and then proceeded to do... nothing.
> 
> Anon - if you're reading this, I'm so, so sorry it's taken me this long to get around to it! I knew from the start this wouldn't be just any prompt fill, but it's taken me a long time to get back into the swing of things this year and I wasn't going to fill any prompts until I felt I could do them justice. I hope I've accomplished that here, and I pray it was worth the wait. Thank you for trusting me with this lovely prompt.
> 
> A huge thank you to everyone else for getting through all 5000+ words of this, and I hope you enjoyed it. As always, please don't hesitate to leave a comment! 
> 
> [Tumblr](https://eleanor-writes-stuff.tumblr.com/) | [Twitter](https://twitter.com/hiraeth_writes)


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